


Help Me Forget Him

by Noëlle McHenry (Quasi_Detective)



Series: Project Eclipse [12]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Adultery, Canon Gay Relationship, Cheating, Forbidden Love, Homoeroticism, M/M, On Hiatus, Romance, Teaching
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-12
Updated: 2016-02-12
Packaged: 2018-05-19 20:43:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5980462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quasi_Detective/pseuds/No%C3%ABlle%20McHenry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the first day of his job as a chemistry teacher, Mr. Daniel Bennett meets a co-worker in a fated encounter that, unbeknownst to them, will change their lives for better or for worse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Help Me Forget Him

            Daniel Bennett was a remarkably handsome man with a long torso, skinny hips, and a frame that wasn’t too lanky but also wasn’t too muscular. His firm, stubble-coated jaw and his slightly-convex nose was very much appealing to his wife, Phoebe. With his short brown hair parted to the left and slicked back, he could look professional, while if he parted it to right and left it to fall where it pleased, he could look friendly and charming. He usually used the latter to his advantage. He was also patient. It took a lot to make him angry.

            All idealisms aside, Bennett was still a boring man, and also rather lonesome. During his evenings, he did nothing special. He didn’t go outside much unless he had a specific reason, and his only friend was Phoebe. He had an affinity for chemistry and physics, the latter of which he yearned to teach, but he had just recently signed himself up for a job teaching grade eleven and twelve chemistry at a local high school. Since his outlook was almost always optimistic, he had accepted this opportunity with high hopes.

            Another thing about Bennett that had caused conflict with Phoebe was his obvious lack of sexual attraction to her. Phoebe had curly blond hair and a magnificently slender figure, as she was a healthy eater and liked to stay active. It wasn’t that he didn’t want sex or that he didn’t think she was attractive, it was just that he sort of… failed to perform. He couldn’t explain it. With both of them being straight and in love, the chemistry of it should’ve been simple. Yet time and time again, he failed to develop an erection despite the feeling of mild excitement (which was never enough to want to do anything anyway). For one reason or another, he just didn’t find her all that arousing.

            Bennett was a funny man. His jokes rarely fell flat, and his sense of humor was on par with that of the average teenager. He particularly liked dumb chemistry puns. “ _Diagrams are so **Bohr** ing,_” He would jokingly complain while he was a student teacher. He was well-liked by the students he had helped to teach during those days. He liked subtle changes, and playing pranks on people. For example, he liked to turn wall clocks upside down just to see how long it would take people to notice, or place completely out of context objects in completely out of context places. Once, he even put a skeleton in the teacher’s closet, but no one truly understood the joke. He particularly enjoyed working with Bunsen burners. The way different chemicals reacted to intense heat enraptured him to no end.

            It was six in the morning on September 9th of 2015 when Bennett came out of the bedroom. The house he shared with his wife was a one-leveler with one bedroom. It was pretty small, but that was the way Phoebe liked it. Bennett, on the other hand, didn’t really care what size his home was so long as it provided him shelter and a roof over his head.

            “I almost thought you were going to sleep in today,” Phoebe remarked casually, not looking up from the pan of fried eggs she was making. That morning she had decided to wear a light blue apron. She had several in different colors. Initially, Bennett had thought of it as a chemistry joke, but then as a way of gauging her mood, only to give up since he could find no common pattern of emotion in relation to apron color.

            “You know I hardly ever sleep in.” Bennett replied as he glanced at his black wristwatch. He was surprised he had slept so long, but his body always _did_ have a way of trying to muck up his schedule.

            Phoebe responded, “I know. You usually wake up way before the sun rises.”

            Bennett joked, “I guess I’m just a night owl at heart.”

            Phoebe shook her head, but she was grinning.

            With a yawn, Bennett grabbed a circular white plate from the dishwasher, then grabbed another, and began setting the table. The oven Phoebe was cooking on was right against a half wall, which allowed the woman to gaze into the living room, where the television was on and displaying the local news. As she cooked, she paid half-attention to it.

            She began paying full attention when the news reporter began warning people in her city not to drink the water. An alert to boil water before use was issued, and Phoebe, being the hypochondriac that she was, felt a little flutter of panic in her bosom. She turned her upper body to vent her concerns to her husband only to find him chugging a glass of water straight from the tap.

            “ _Daniel!_ ” She shrieked in a scolding tone. Bennett stopped drinking and looked at her.

            He asked innocently, “What?”

            “Weren’t you just listening to the news? We’re not supposed to drink the water! It’s not safe!”

            “Pfft,” Bennett rolled his eyes and put the glass away before approaching his wife and wrapping her arms over his shoulders, rocking her gently from side to side. “Honey, they don’t know what they’re talking about. I guarantee you, the tap water’s just fine.”

            “You’re a goddamned chemistry teacher now, Daniel. You should be setting a better example.”

            “I would likely be able to tell if the water was unfiltered, babe. It looks like water. It smells like water. What do you think it tastes like?”

            “Like water,” Phoebe grumbled with a small smile. Bennett liked to tease her whenever he thought she was overreacting, and it always made her crack up a bit.

            “Like water.” Bennett confirmed before he (surprisingly awkwardly) pecked his wife’s cheek. “When’s breakfast ready?”

* * *

            Around 7:30, Bennett arrived at the school he was to teach at. He had walked, since he didn’t live too far away and his wife needed the car in order to get to _her_ job, which basically involved her sitting behind a desk all day bossing some editors and writers around. She worked for a local magazine that was targeted towards women. Bennett knew that most of what made the final cut was absolute bullshit, like how supposedly eating a lot of Weetabix could somehow cure diabetes _and_ make you lose weight, but Phoebe was a gullible health nut who, at least to a degree, believed every word of was published.

            When Bennett went inside and located the main office, the secretaries were a tad surprised to see him.

            “Oh, you must be Mr. Bennett. You’re a little early.” The skinnier one of the two said.

            “Better earlier than never, right?” Bennett chimed playfully. Neither woman reacted, which left an awkward pause in the air.

            “The staff room’s back there,” The fatter one, who had dyed her hair a deep red that didn’t work well with her flushed skin, pointed over her shoulder. “You can wait in there if you want. The principal wants to discuss how things work here, but he’s out at the moment.”

            “Ah, I see. Thanks.” Walking past them, the skinner one chirped again.

            “Help yourself to the coffee in there!”

            Bennett only nodded, not really wanting to say “Thanks” again and not knowing how else to respond. He opened the door to the staff room and stepped inside.

            The staff room was small with beige walls and a round black table in the middle. There were counters along the left-hand side of the room from the door, with various appliances such as a fridge, a microwave, and a coffee pot with a huge bag of sugar beside it. In front of the bag of sugar was a relatively tiny box of artificial sweetener, put there for the people who could stomach the “healthier” option.

            Bennett slung his brown bag, which had been hanging over his shoulder as it had a long strap almost like a binder or a large purse, over the back of one of the chairs and walked over to the coffee pot. There were dispensable coffee cups nearby, though Bennett presumed he was supposed to have brought a thermos for himself. Filling a cup and adding to it three rounded tablespoons of sugar, Bennett returned to the chair he had claimed and sat down, beginning to drink.

            He was reflecting quietly on the past couple of days, so he was zoned out enough to not notice that someone else had entered the room until he saw someone else getting a cup of coffee. Quickly, he snapped out of his trance, praying that the man hadn’t attempted to speak with him.

            “Hello,” The man said suddenly, though he didn’t turn from the cup of coffee he was pouring. His voice was deep, and the chipper tone sounded somewhat fake.

            “H-hello,” Bennett responded, trying hard to mask an obvious stammer that was caused by surprise.

            “You’re the new guy, right? The one teaching in room 349?”

            “Uh, y-yeah.”

            The man, who stood about six-foot-four, added only one even tablespoon of sugar to his coffee before turning around to lean against the counter and drink. He wore glasses with black frames and a black t-shirt. In terms of attire, Bennett couldn’t help but think of _Johnny Bravo_ when looking at the man, though his hair was dark brown and in a very short faux hawk.

            After gulping a large sip of coffee, the man said in the same forced friendly tone, “Maxwell Blumenthal. I teach in room 336, which is actually right in front of yours because of a fuck-up in the numbering system. Nice to meet you.”

            Bennett wasn’t startled by the man’s cursing, though it did strike him as odd, since they were in a professional workplace. Still, he couldn’t help but admire the man’s audacity. “Daniel Bennett.”

            Blumenthal stood up straight and said, “Well, Bennett, buckle up. You’re in for one hell of a ride. These kids are a real handful.” Bennett wanted to ask the man what he taught, but he was cut off. “See you later. I’ve got some shit to sort out.” And with that, Blumenthal briskly left the room.

            Bennett sat there in silence just staring at the door for a moment. He had a strange feeling. Perhaps it was relief, he figured; that Blumenthal character had just given him a strange vibe. He didn’t like the guy very much, that was all he had truly been able to gather from first impression alone.

            “What a weird guy,” Bennett mumbled to himself, “I hope I don’t work with him too often…” Trying to shake the encounter off, Bennett attempted to drift back into his own thoughts, but it was difficult to get his mind off of the awkward moment and the odd, unexplainable feeling that no doubt would plague him for at least the rest of the day.


End file.
